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Estar generally focuses on the condition of the subject, and specifically on qualities that include: Physical condition; Feelings, emotions, and states of mind; Appearance; In English, the sentence "The boy is boring" uses a different adjective than "The boy is bored". In Spanish, the difference is made by the choice of ser or estar.
Similarly, the participle agrees with the subject when it is used with ser to form the "true" passive voice (e.g. La carta fue escrita ayer 'The letter was written [got written] yesterday.'), and also when it is used with estar to form a "passive of result", or stative passive (as in La carta ya está escrita 'The letter is already written.').
The verbs ser (to be) and ir (to go) both exhibit irregularities in the present, imperfect and preterite forms (note that these two verbs have the same preterite fui). Together with ver (to see) and prever (to foresee), they are the only four verbs with irregular imperfect indicative.
The present progressive is formed by first conjugating the verb estar or seguir, depending on context, to agree with the subject, and then attaching a gerund of the verb that follows. The past (imperfect) progressive simply requires the estar or seguir to be conjugated, depending on context, in imperfect, with respect to the subject.
The preterite was a common Semitic form, well attested in the Akkadian language, where the preterite almost always referred to the past and was often interchangeable with the perfect. [11] In the course of time the preterite fell into disuse in all West Semitic languages , leaving traces such as the "imperfect with waw-consecutive " in Hebrew ...
Past (imperfect) subjunctive. Used interchangeably, the past (imperfect) subjunctive can end either in -se or -ra. Both forms stem from the third-person plural (ellos, ellas, ustedes) of the preterite. For example, the verb estar, when conjugated in the third-person plural of the preterite, becomes estuvieron.
"It was just circling, and circling. You could see it wasn't completely frozen over, so I panicked," Felicani said. "Then I heard the crackling and was like, 'he's going in.'"
The imperfect (abbreviated IMPERF) is a verb form that combines past tense (reference to a past time) and imperfective aspect (reference to a continuing or repeated event or state). It can have meanings similar to the English "was walking" or "used to walk". It contrasts with preterite forms, which refer to a single completed event in the past.